In a rather interesting development, Chael Sonnen, who is currently the lead commentator for GFW, is set to meet with Michael Cole when WWE does a Smackdown taping in Portland on August 11. There are talks that Sonnen has long been interested in joining the promotion and working as an on screen talent. He definitely has the passion and the talent for the job.

Initially, Paul Heyman was supposed to make his return before Brock Lesnar by working segments with Michael Cole about the story line lawsuit that is taking place. Lots of ideas were being discussed backstage on how to make that happen. However, it appears that WWE could not decide on a good one, as it is now being reported that Heyman is not scheduled to make his return to television until July. That is when Lesnar is scheduled to be back.

In a rather stunning move, WWE has publicly acknowledged the heath condition of Daniel Bryan. Michael Cole and JBL mentioned on Monday Night Raw that the Intercontinental Champion might not be able to defend his title against Wade Barrett at Extreme Rules. Management is having him undergo medical testing this week because they still would love to have him on the card. A replacement match is being discussed in case Bryan cannot work.

In order to keep Brock Lesnar on the mind of their fans, WWE still has plans on bringing Paul Heyman back soon. He is scheduled to work a segment with Michael Cole in regards to the kayfabe lawsuit that the commentator is filing against the former world heavyweight champion. Management still wants that angle to happen, but they are still undecided as to when to pull the trigger. The focus right now has been mainly on the upcoming Extreme Rules.

Once the decision was made by WWE to keep Michael Cole off of Monday Night Raw, there was a bit of a debate on how to replace him. Some wanted just JBL and Booker T to man the booth, but neither guy is a play by play commentator. There was a little bit of support for Brad Maddox to take the role, as he was backstage, but the front office ultimately decided to give Byron Saxton another chance to prove himself.

There was actually a good amount of discussion throughout the afternoon about whether or not Michael Cole would be doing commentary on Monday Night Raw. Since people backstage were so divided, the decision was made to keep him off of television this week, in order to sell how brutal the beating from Brock Lesnar was. Many in WWE felt that it would be downplaying his impact if Cole were to be able to return to television so soon.

One of the ideas being thrown around by the creative department right now is do a story line where Michael Cole threatens to sue Brock Lesnar for the injuries that he suffered on the previous episode of Monday Night Raw. WWE might do a thing where Paul Heyman would beg and plead with Cole to drop the charges. The move would give Heyman something to do on television, and it would continue the story line for Lesnar.

Just to give you an idea of how high the company is on Renee Young, there are serious talks backstage of promoting her to the commentating booth soon. No word yet on who she would be replacing or which show she would be working. However, Michael Cole seems to be the safest one out there. WWE is still very high on him, and he's going to be with them for as long as he wants. Renee could potential replace Byron Saxton, who is on the hot seat.

On Monday Night Raw, we saw Brock Lesnar demolishing Michael Cole with his F5 finishing move. In the story line, WWE is stating that the commentator suffered a broken neck. That has drawn some heat from others in the industry. Many are pointing out that Perro Aguayo recently died because of a similar injury. They feel that it was a bit insensitive of the creative department to do something like that so soon.